Conveyor chain having u-shaped links



g- 1966 J. v. SOILA ETAL CONVEYOR CHAIN HAVING U-SHAPED LINKS Filed May 26, 1964 FIG. 2

United States Patent Ice 3,268,063 CONVEYOR CHAIN HAVING U-SHAPED LINKS Jouko Viljami Soila and Erkki Pietari Niskanen, both of Malmi, Helsinki, Finland Filed May 26, 1964, Ser. No. 370,169 Claims priority, application Germany, Oct. 2, 1963, K 50,979 8 Claims. (Cl. 198-189) This invention relates to a conveyor chain formed of U-shaped links having a curved base portion and projecting shanks, between which are pivotally mounted intermediate members connecting adjacent links and gripping the cogs of a driving wheel.

According to a known construction of this kind (Danish pat. publ. No. 89,376) the chains are mainly formed of U-shaped links, the base portion of which is bent in an arch of about 270 from which extends rearwardly, relative the moving direction of the chain. The links include shanks, in which the bent base portion of the link extends to the ends of shanks in the next link, in which case there is arranged with respect to the said arched portion a vertical centering member, around which the arched portion of the link can turn, and furthermore, adjacent links are pivotally connected to one another by a horizontal pivot pin, which passes through the shanks of one link, through the bent portion of the next link, and further through the said centering member.

There appears, however, many disadvantages in the construction of the above chain. Thus, for example, when the bent portion of the link is situated between the U-formed part of the next link, there will be, on both of the sides of the centering member, two of the link shanks placed side by side, through which the pivot pin passes. This being the case, there is produceddue to the relatively long lever arma force with great flexure strain acting upon the pin, which requires the same to be dimensioned accordingly.

Furthermore, only one end of the centering member between the links is rounded, i.e., its lower end which comes into contact with the teeth of the driving wheel. On account of this, the chain cannot be turned upside down after being worn, so that only one of its sides may be used for service.

This last stated disadvantage, however, has in one of the constructions been eliminated by providing the centering member in the vertical plane with a cylindrical surface (Danish pat. publ. No. 161,024), but there still remains the same drawbacks as in the earlier case.

An object of this invention is to eliminate the above stated disadvantages, which is attained by providing the said intermediate member with a frame part, through which a horizontally bored hole passes, which frame part extends from the space between the free ends of the shanks of the U-formed link up to the slit situated in the base part of an adjacent U-link, there being provided vertical projecting lugs on said frame part which engage the base part of said adjacent U-link and extend to the top and bottom surface of the link.

Compared with the known conveyor chains of similar types, the construction according to the present invention provides the advantage, that the pivot pin between the links will only be subjected to shear and not bending since there is fitted between the shanks of the U- shaped link an intermediate member with a width which corresponds to the distance between the shanks. Moreover, both sides of the chain may be used for service, i.e., when the chain becomes worn on one side, it may be turned over to the other side, since the opposite end surface of the intermediate member at said lugs is sy-mmetrically curved in a vertical plane. Due to the construction of the chain according to this invention even Patented August 23, 1966 the teeth on the chain wheel may be made broader, by

which the strength of the wheel becomes greater, as compared to the case with the use of a chain according to the Danish patent publication. As a further advantage, the intermediate member can be manufactured by casting, which makes the construction still more advantageous to realize.

The invention is described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which FIGURE 1 is a top view in partial section of a part of a conveyor chain according to the invention,

FIGURE 2 is a side view in partial section of the chain as illustrated in FIGURE 1, and

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the intermediate member between the chain links.

According to the drawing the conveyor chain consists of a mainly U-shaped link 1, an intermediate member 2, and pivot pins 3.

Each of the U-shaped links 1 is composed of a base portion 4 and two shanks 5 extending rearwardly relative to the direction of advancement of the chain. In the middle of the link 1 is a slit 6 for the intermediate member and in the rear end of the shanks 5 are holes 7 for receiving the pivot pin 3.

The intermediate member 2, which forms the connection member for successive links 1, is provided with a frame or base part 8 having a rounded front end. The width of the base part 8 between the shanks is approximately equal to the distance between the shanks. As seen in FIGS. 1 and 3, the base part 8 tapers rearwardly towards its opposite end. The height of the base part 8 is such that it fits into the slit 6. The base part 8 is provided with a hole 9 extending horizontally for the accommodation of the pivot pin 3. At the narrower end of the base part are two lugs 10 which project vertically in opposite directions. The distance between the top and the bottom surface of these lugs is substantially equal to the height of the link 1. The front surface of the lugs, i.e., the connection region 11 between the top and the bottom surfaces, comes into contact with the driving chain wheel, and being curved for attaining a better grip on the cogs of the chain wheel. Likewise, the surface 12 of the lugs, against which the base portion 4 of link 1 rests has a curved form which corresponds to the curvature of the base part.

The conveyor chain according to the invention is assembled simply by fitting the base part 8 of the intermediate member through the slit 6 in the base portion 4 of the U-shaped link 1 and between the shanks of the following adjacent link, after which the pivot pin 3 is fitted through the holes 7 and 9.

When the chain makes a bend in a horizontal plane, the links 1 will turn around the curved surfaces 12 of the lugs 10 on the intermediate member 2. While the chain is moving around the driving chain wheel or around some other chain wheel, the links 1 will turn round the pivot pins 3, when the teeth on the chain wheel firmly engage the curved surface 11 which connects the extending lugs 10 and drives the chain in motion.

The intermediate member 2 can preferably be produced by casting, in which case it is only necessary to bore the holes for the pivot pins, after which they are ready for assembly.

The invention is naturally not limited to the above described embodiment, since it may be modified within the scope and limits of the invention is defined in the claims. This refers especially to the curvature of the links and the form of the intermediate members.

What we claim is:

1. A conveyor chain comprising a plurality of U- shaped links connected together, each link having a curved base portion and parallel spaced shanks extending therefrom, intermediate members adapted for gripping the teeth of a driving Wheel, and a pivot pin for each intermediate member pivota-lly Connecting the same to the shanks of a corresponding link, each link having a slot in the base portion thereof, each intermediate member including a base portion extending through the slot in a corresponding link, projecting lugs on said base portion of each intermediate memberextending beyond the slot to engage the base portion of said corresponding link, each pin pivotally connecting the base portion of the intermediate member with the shanks of the corresponding link such that the intermediate member can be inserted, from within the shanks of a link, through the slot in the base portion thereof into the space between the shanks of an adjacent link until the lugs on the intermediate member contact the base portion of the first link.

2. A conveyor chain as claimed in claim 1, wherein said lugs have surfaces which contact the base portion of the links which correspond in shape to that of said base portion of the links.

3. A conveyor chain as claimed in claim 1, wherein said base portion of the intermediate member has one end with a width corresponding to the spacing between the shanks of the links, and an opposite narrower end from which said lugs project.

4. A conveyor chain as claimed in claim 1, wherein said base portion of each intermediate member has a hole :and the shanks of each respective link have corresponding holes for the passage of a pivot pin therethrough.

5. A conveyor chain as claimed in claim 1, wherein said lugs project to a height corresponding to that of the links.

6. A conveyor chain as claimed in claim 1, wherein the base portion of each said intermediate member has a height corresponding to that of the slots in the links.

7. A conveyor chain as claimed in claim 1, wherein each intermediate member includes an end surface at said lugs which is curved to promote gripping of the teeth of the driving wheel.

8. A conveyor chain as claimed in claim 1, wherein said base portion of each intermediate member has flat parallel surfaces from which said lugs project.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,066,723 1/1937 Egglest-on 198189 2,960,210 11/1960 Jorgensen 198-189 EVON C. BLUNK, Primary Examiner.

EDWARD A. SROKA. Examiner. 

1. A CONVEYOR CHAIN COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF USHAPED LINKS CONNECTED TOGETHER, EACH LINK HAVING A CURVED BASE PORTION AND PARALLEL SPACED SHANKS EXTENDING THEREFROM, INTERMEDIATE MEMBERS ADAPTED FOR GRIPPING THE TEETH OF A DRIVING WHEEL, AND A PIVOT PIN FOR EACH INTERMEDIATE MEMBER PIVOTALLY CONNECTING THE SAME TO THE SHANKS OF A CORRESPONDING LINK, EACH LINK HAVING A SLOT IN THE BASE PORTION THEREOF, EACH INTERMEDIATE MEMBER INCLUDING A BASE PORTION EXTENDING THROUGH THE SLOT IN A CORRESPONDING LINK, PROJECTING LUGS ON SAID BASE PORTION OF EACH INTERMEDIATE MEMBER EXTENDING BEYOND THE SLOT TO ENGAGE THE BASE PORTION OF SAID CORRESPONDING LINK, EACN PIN PIVOTALLY CONNECTING THE BASE PORTION OF THE INTERMEDIATE MEMBER WITH THE SHANKS OF THE CORRESPONDING LINK SUCH THAT THE INTERMEDIATE MEMBER CAN BE INSERTED, FROM WITHIN THE SHANKS OF A LINK, THROUGH THE SLOT IN THE BASE PORTION THEREOF INTO THE SPACE BETWEEN THE SHANKS OF AN ADJACENT LINK UNTIL THE LUGS ON THE INTERMEDIATE MEMBER CONTACT THE BASE PORTION OF THE FIRST LINK. 